It's Been So Long
by Triangle Goddess
Summary: AU-Steve had lived a good life despite not being able to join the war. But he sure is in for a surprise when he sees his once dead friend at his doorstep.


**Disclaimer: **I think we all know that I don't own anything here...  
**Notes: **It's little ideas like this that keep me up at night. Oh well. Hope you all enjoy! And if you're interested in way longer Cap fics then can you guys go check the poll on my profile? There are 4 crossovers and 3 AUs. Thanks a bunch!

**~SoN~**

**They Meet Again**

**Third Person:**

Steve coughed as he smiled down at the faded picture of him and his old friend, Bucky, who had died during the war. Yet no matter how many times Steve had tried enlisting, they never did let him in. It made Steve mad, and it made him feel pretty useless. But he had eventually accepted that he wouldn't get in. But Bucky had made it. And Steve wished to all of the higher powers that Bucky would make it, but that night at the Stark Expo where Howard Stark made that car fly, that night was the last time he ever saw Bucky again. He cursed himself everyday for not making his last night with him more special.

And now it was 2011. Steve had never expected to live this long. His asthma alone should have killed him at the age of thirty. But Steve guessed he should thank the advances of modern medicine. Otherwise he would be lying right next to his ma in Green-Wood Cemetery.

When Steve had gotten the news of Bucky's death-by-frozen-waters in the middle of '45, all Steve had done for three days was cry. What made it worse was that he could never properly move on because there hadn't been a funeral. They never managed to find the body. And that's all that Steve had ever wanted. Was to properly mourn his best friend's death, but because of that stupid Johann Schmidt he was never able to.

Steve still had to go out though. It was March 10th-Bucky's birthday. He wasn't going to get drunk off his rocker. He never did. Instead he visited his gallery of paintings that he had made right after he married Peggy, who had gotten to sick to live in a normal house. She was in Manhattan at a nursing home. Steve went there all the time, always sketching her with his pale, bony hands. After he would go to his gallery filled with sketches and drawings of Bucky and just the forties in general, he would always go down to the bakery and buy one chocolate cupcake. Chocolate had always been Bucky's favorite, and it had always been an expensive luxury back when they were just a couple of kids from Brooklyn. But now they weren't. Steve was a well known and highly successful artist, and Bucky was dead.

And there was no changing that.

* * *

It had been a week since Bucky had woken up from being thawed out. He had adjusted well, but there were still things he was trying to get used to. Like prices at the supermarket, which lived up to the name of super, or the way that typewriters seemed like antiques. Cell phones were very new to him as well, but he had gotten the hang of using something called Instagram. He would post something as soon as he figured out how the camera worked.

But the biggest change was his arm.

On the Valkyrie, when he had been fighting the Red Skull, his left arm had been crushed beyond repair. When he was thawed out they had to amputate it to avoid infection. Bucky had been oddly okay with that. He was pretty sure that even if he didn't agree to it being cut off it wouldn't have mattered much anyway. He didn't need a limb for dead weight that didn't even have no hope of working.

But he had gotten over the weird stares a long time ago. His only thoughts were about Steve.

Bucky, having grown up with Steve and his piss-poor health, knew that Steve probably hadn't survived past thirty. But there was still that small bit of hope.

And Bucky didn't know how it happened. He just found himself asking Fury, whom he stayed in contact with after he had been unfrozen by S.H.I.E.L.D., if Steve was still alive.

Much to his surprise and relief, he was.

He had gotten Steve's address three days prior, but was just now going to visit him. He had been nervous about what he was going to say, what he was going to do, and if Steve's frail heart would stop beating right then and there. But he figured he didn't have to worry to much about that last part.

And it was his birthday. Even though Bucky was the birthday boy, he was all for giving Steve the best surprises. God knows the man has earned the good kind.

So there Bucky found himself, standing awkwardly on Steve's front step, trying to work up the nerve to give it a knock. He had been standing there maybe ten, fifteen minutes tops, when a throat was cleared behind him. Bucky quickly whirled around to see a small, frail looking old man with dim blue eyes and silver hair that had white linings. His throat clearing had turned into a full on cough, and Bucky lost all rational thought as he started to gently pat the man's back as he keened over, grabbing his knees for support. The bag he had been carrying had fallen to the floor

It lasted about a minute more, but when the small man grabbed his bag, he looked up, and his blue eyes suddenly sparked to life as he took a few steps back.

"B-Bucky?" He asked,. His face was completely stunned.

"Heya, Steve," replied Bucky with a small, awkward wave. "Uh...I'm not dead, just so you know."

Steve stood there gaping for a good five minutes, and Bucky almost feared that he was going to have an actual heart attack. But then he nearly had the wind knocked out of him by the small man as he hugged Bucky tightly. Despite his size and age, Steve had a pretty good grip. Bucky figured it was an artist thing. Bucky smiled and hugged him back with his one arm, and after a few minutes, he ruffled Steve's hair and pulled him back, only to find a sniffling but smiling Steve, who looked like Bucky was an angel sent from Heaven.

"Happy birthday, Bucky," he said, holding out the sack. Bucky opened it up and grinned as he pulled out a slightly smashed chocolate cupcake.

"How 'bout me and you split it?" Bucky said, taking the key from Steve's hand and unlocking the door. Steve laughed and leaned into Bucky slightly as Bucky threw his arm around his shoulders like he used to do every single day.

"How did you survive? How do you still look like you're 26 when you're really 98?" Steve asked. There was no doubt in his voice that Bucky could catch. Only happiness, curiosity, and the greatest warmth in the entire world, all thrown into that shit-eating grin that only Steve could pull off. Bucky smirked and led Steve inside.

"Have I got some stories to tell you, pal..."


End file.
